| The French destroyer Bourrasque, avoiding coastal gunfire from Nazi German positions in Nieuwpoort, Belgium, collided with a mine and sank off the coast of Dunkirk, France. Here, French servicemen swim for rescue. To evacuate the British and French troops trapped in the Dunkirk pocket by German armored divisions, Operation Dynamo was launched and carried out from May 27 to June 4, 1940. Decided on May 26, the evacuation via the port of Dunkirk and the adjacent beaches was placed under the authority of Admiral Betram H. Ramsay (January 20, 1883 – January 2, 1945), General Officer Commanding, Dover. Its objective was to protect the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and, if possible, the other Allied Forces, from capture by the German armies by embarking as many as possible before the coastal zone was entirely invested. In record time, the Royal Navy requisitioned and brought together at Dover as many ships as possible, destroyers and minesweepers, but also ships from the merchant navy and civilian pleasure craft (the “little ships.”) Ships from the French Navy were also involved in this operation. On May 30, 1940, taking the long eastward “Route Y ” to avoid long-range German batteries at Calais, Bourrasque had come under German artillery fire from Nieuwpoort. In attempting evasive action, she went off course and sailed straight into a French minefield, detonating a mine and sinking rapidly thereafter. Tragically, the sinking was so rapid that there was insufficient time to deactivate her depth charges, and the subsequent detonation of these killed many in the water. More than 500 soldiers and sailors perished in this shipwreck; the others were picked up by the destroyer Branle-Bas. Photographs were probably taken from the Branle-Bas. | |
| Image Filename | wwii0383.jpg |
| Image Size | 1.43 MB |
| Image Dimensions | 4090 x 2721 |
| Photographer | Inconnu |
| Photographer Title | Service cinématographique de la Marine |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | May 31, 1940 |
| Location | |
| City | Nieuwpoort |
| State or Province | Flanders |
| Country | Belgium |
| Archive | L’Établissement de communication et de production audiovisuelle de la Défense (ECPAD) |
| Record Number | MARINE 667 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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